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Thine eyes still shined for me,
Though far I lonely roved the land or sea:
As I behold yon evening star,
Which yet beholds not me.

This morn I climbed the misty hill,
And roamed the pastures through;
How danced thy form before my path
Amidst the deep-eyed dew!

When the redbird spread his sable wing,
And showed his side of flame;
When the rosebud ripened to the rose,
In both I read thy name.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

A year after the appearance of Set III, Novello, who were evidently pleased with its reception, brought out Set IV. A version of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Thine eyes still shined for me from Poems (1847) was originally written for the October edition of the Atalanta magazine in 1893 before being extensively rewritten. It is a particularly rich example of through-composition, where one idea (heard at the very opening) is continually developed and reshaped throughout the song. This process accordingly provides an apt musical metaphor for the ripening of love that lies at the heart of Emerson’s lyric. The song is dedicated ‘To Dolly’, the affectionate nickname of Parry’s beloved elder daughter, Dorothea.

Weep you no more, sad fountains;
What need you flow so fast?
Look how the snowy mountains
Heaven’s sun doth gently waste!
But my sun’s heavenly eyes
View not your weeping,
That now lies sleeping,
Softly now softly lies sleeping.

Sleep is a reconciling,
A rest that peace begets;
Doth not the sun rise smiling
When fair at even he sets?
Rest you, then, rest, sad eyes!
Melt not in weeping,
While she lies sleeping,
Softly now softly lies sleeping.

The anonymous text Weep you no more, sad fountains in John Dowland’s Third Book of Ayres of 1603, was one favoured by many English song composers of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries (namely van Dieren, Gurney, Holst, Moeran, Quilter and Somervell). Dedicated to Mrs Robert Benson, Parry’s setting is one of deft simplicity. A vocal line largely independent of its Brahmsian accompaniment is lent added subtlety by the contrast of minor (verse 1) and major (verse 2) modes which mirrors the change of mood in the text. This modal shift also imparts meaning to the harmonic context: the closing progressions at the end of verse two may be common enough devices in the major, but they acquire a special point following their minor origins.